Sorry about the delay. Besides the typical RL stuff, I've gone back to playing GTA Online to try and distract myself. Hopefully the next update will come quicker.
I've also gotten questions on whether I'll remove the omakes from here now that they have their own story. I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure removing those would also remove the reviews and feedback I got from said chapters, some of which come with their own suggestions for the main story. For now I'll leave them up and I might take them down later.
Side Note - Literally just one review from having a thousand reviews. I didn't think this fic would get so much attention, but hey I'm not complaining :) I'm just happy I came up with the idea while writing other fics.
It was a trial for the ages. On one side was her, Ruby Rose, the betrayed party who was so callously stabbed in the back by her partner and bestie. On the other side was Weiss Schnee, a betrayer who broke both the bestie code and the girl code. There was no punishment fit for such a heinous crime, but such monstrous actions demanded retribution; and Ruby Rose was all too eager to dole it out.
Weiss had sat primly on the beanbag chair, trying and failing to retain her dignity as her crimes were laid before her. While Ruby called it a trial, it would've been more accurate to describe it as a judgement. She was guilty and this was just the pretense to give her punishment.
That was when one Lie Ren had ruined it all. He and Mercury were only supposed to be there as witnesses, but the Mistralian boy had pointed out that Weiss didn't actually have a legal counsel. Blake was her's, though it was a ceremonial title. Everyone here knew of her grievances and it was a foregone conclusion that Weiss would sorely pay for stabbing her in the back. Pay!
But then Ren offered to be said counsel and then everything went horribly wrong. Gone was the slam dunk condemnation, instead Weiss had received a powerful ally that successfully argued for extenuating circumstances. Yang, her loyal sister, was steadfast in ensuring a guilty verdict, but Pyrrha and Nora had been swayed by their teammates arguments. Couple that with a few choked crocodile tears and stories about how her father was a very exacting man and they had ruled in Weiss' favor of a suspended sentence.
It was an outrage! An outrage! Ruby had made her displeasure clear by hugging Zwei close and removing all of Weiss' cuddling priveleges to him. Weiss had screamed about how unfair it was, but of course there was nothing she could do about it. Even if she'd swayed Pyrrha and Nora to her side, she and Yang understood the truth. And they were the ones who owned Zwei, so tough cookies.
"Ruby, could I please-"
"Nope." Ruby hugged Zwei tighter and glared at her pleading partner, "You should've taken your punishment like a woman. You made me do this." Zwei whined, trying to reach out for the bag of treats Weiss held in her traitorous hands, but Ruby refused to budge.
"It wasn't my fault! Ren was the one who offered to be my counsel!"
"You should've said no!"
Off to the side, Yang, Blake and Jaune watched the scene in varying degrees of disbelief. There was Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC and inheritor of Maiden magic, almost on her hands and knees begging both for Ruby's forgiveness and for her Zwei priveleges back. Mostly the latter, "Still think I'm not the most sane person here?" Blake asked Jaune, who was too focused on the scene to care.
Jaune shook his head and started brewing some hot chocolate for them all. Ruby was a forgiving girl and she'd let up on Weiss in a day or two, but until then they had to brace themselves for a very cranky heiress denied her cuddles. Personally he thought it was a bit overboard considering their fake relationship lasted for maybe half a day at most. Blake deserved worse, but Ruby couldn't exactly hold Zwei priveleges over her.
Threatening her with Zwei directly was another matter...
"Alright, as funny as this is, we do got some important things to actually talk about." Yang sat down on Blake's bed and crossed her arms, "Blakey over here told me that her Ilia friend found out something about our resident psycho ex boyfriend. He's attending a rally to try and stir up his band of crazies into doing something stupid, so that's gonna be our best shot to get him."
"Don't forget your own thing," Jaune gave each of them the mugs of hot chocolate, "Anymore letters from your bandit friends?"
"Not my friends, and nope." Yang's expression made it clear she had mixed feelings on the lack of communication, "I'm really hoping they hit me up before the Vytal Qualifiers. I don't need that on my mind."
"Are we still participating?" Blake asked.
"Why wouldn't we?" Ruby asked back, "There's nothing in the rules against having 'Secondary Semblances'." She pulled Zwei back before Weiss could pat his head. Oof.
"It's hardly any more odd than our work for Councilman Blanche," Weiss said through her pout.
"It just feels...unfair," Blake said.
"I mean that's how Semblances are. Stuff's luck of the draw." Yang shrugged, "Cereal Girl can make all of our weapons useless if she wants and no one calls bullshit on her. Mercury doesn't have a Semblance and I'm pretty sure he's definitely passing the qualifiers."
"Then I guess all that remains is determining who'll be participating. There's five of us and only four to a team allowed," Blake said.
"Uh...at the risk of sounding like I'm putting myself down again, isn't it a no-brainer?" Jaune asked, "You all know I don't have as much training as the rest of you. Me not participating is the obvious choice here."
"Not exactly." Blake shook her head, "I'm not interested in the tournament. I'd rather use that time to focus on the White Fang and stopping whatever plot Adam's cooked up. Even if we do stop him personally before then, he has a habit of inspiring fanatical loyalty. Whatever remnants we leave behind will try to continue his plan in their stead and the last thing anyone needs is that."
"Then I should probably argue that I also have a stake in that and Yang's thing with the bandits. You two kinda dragged me into it by trying to make me your secret keepers." And when that Taurus guy tortured him, but he wasn't gonna say that cause then Blake would just blame herself again.
"Which you totally snitched on us on," Yang snarked.
"Someone has to be the smart one in these relationships."
"Sassy! Whatever happened to the dorky blonde knight I fell in love with?" Yang pouted.
"He grew up when he realized his roommates could blow him up with a sneeze." Despite the words, everyone laughed good-naturedly. It wasn't too long ago that it actually was a legitimate worry, but time and care had a way of eroding those thoughts, "Joking aside, I am serious that I wanna focus more on those two things than the tournament. Be better for all of us if we don't have to worry about the White Fang or the Branwens."
"Should we skip the tournament?" Ruby asked.
"Uh-uh, no way! It's the Huntsman thing everyone at school trains for! If we skip out the next chance we'll get to attend is when we're third years!" Yang said.
"I agree with Yang. It would be a waste to not participate." Weiss nodded, "That and I'm certain that my father will now encourage my attendance given that he can use the publicity for the SDC's benefit."
"Hey, I wanna go too, but Jaune and Blake are right that the White Fang and those bandits are more important," Ruby replied, "If we have to skip the tournament to deal with those two first, then it's a no-brainer."
"Agreed, but we should plan for that when we know when these meetings are taking place," Jaune paused, "You know, when I first got into Beacon, I never thought I'd have to schedule helping deal with terrorists and bandits into the agenda. Thanks, all of you. You've really made my time here at Beacon an unforgettable experience."
" I feel I should point out you faked your transcripts, Mr. Arc." Weiss tutted.
"Uh...why's everyone acting so weird?" Ruby asked.
"They're using humor to mask stress." Blake rolled her eyes, "And also changing the subject. Like I said, we need to determine who's going to be attending the tournament. Judging by all of your comments, I'm guessing Ruby, Weiss and Yang are in, so that leaves either me or Jaune as the odd person out."
"Gonna repeat: lack of training and no magical powers."
"Which I'm not even sure we'll be allowed to use, so one of your arguments is invalid." Blake shook her head, "I guess we'll just have to deal with it when it comes. Illia said she should have information on the rally's location soon. We'll inform the police and other authorities as needed, but Adam is mine." The lights overhead flickered and an angry burst of wind jolted the window.
"You're not the only one who wants payback, Blake," Ruby said somberly.
"I want more than that." A silence settled over the room at her words. They knew what she meant. She wanted to kill him, not just hand him over to the authorities. They hadn't really talked about the details of his kidnapping. He killed people, but that was to be expected. They were training to be Huntsmen and it was purely self-defense. No one could blame him for taking lives in the heat of combat.
This was different. Blake was suggesting pre-meditated killing.
"Are you sure that's the wisest course of action?" Weiss asked evenly, "Doing so might create a martyr."
"Leaving him alive is just as dangerous. He was willing to destroy all of Vale, and he threw away the lives of his men to kidnap Jaune." Ruby flinched at Blake's words, "From what Ilia's told me, Adam's faction of the White Fang are so riled up that any setback will set them off. Even if we take him alive, being taken to an Atlesian prison - which I'm sure Specialist Winter will insist on - will mark him as a martyr regardless."
"But...killing him?" Ruby asked, "I get having to do it in a fight, but what if he surrenders?"
"He never will." Ruby was about to follow up when Blake interrupted, "I know you don't like it, Ruby, but this is how it has to be. I knew Adam better than anyone and even I was surprised by how far he's fallen. I don't think he even really cares about the Faunus anymore. His actions are harming those he claims to prop up and have made all the Faunus in Vale targets. For all we know that might even be a part of his plan. He doesn't want us equal; he wants to make a clear divide. Us vs Them."
A part of Jaune wanted to disagree, the same part that told Mercury he wanted Taurus arrested, but a bigger part drowned it out. He hated Adam Taurus. He wasn't just a bully like Cardin or a mindless monster like the Grimm. He was a spiteful, petty bastard who caused so much death and destruction just to hurt people and get back at Blake for leaving him. Fuck him.
Yang sighed, "Look, Blake, I'm not gonna judge you for this. Hell, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to kill any bandits that aren't smart enough to surrender. I just wanna make sure this is what you really want. I get you're angry, but you might end up regretting it."
"I've killed a whole lot more people less deserving than Adam, Yang. I'm sure."
"Then I guess there's nothing for it."
"...That's it?" Ruby asked uncomfortably.
"It's her choice, Rubes. If she wants do this then all we can do is help her our get out of her way," Yang said, "Either way, we'll at least all help you get to that point."
"Then we'll help you with your mom's old bandit friends," Jaune added.
"Egg donor, but yeah. Uncle Qrow's gonna want in on this too, but the headmaster usually sends him out on missions so it's a 50-50 shot he'll even be here to help."
"By the Brothers, and here I thought my first year at Beacon would be me worrying about my grades, not...this." Weiss huffed, though there was no heat in it. She reached out to pet Zwei before slapped her hand away, "Oh, come on!"
"Nice try, bestie."
They all went to sleep after that. He'd like to say it was a restful and dreamless one, but of course his mind was clouded with everything they talked about. They'd joked about it, but he really was thinking now about how absurd everything was. First year students weren't meant to worry about bandits, terrorists and world ending immortal monsters. They were too young for this stuff.
He was so distracted by his mulling that he barely noticed when an all too familiar figure crept into his bed and hugged his back. Ruby wrapped her arms around his torso and didn't say a word. He was tempted to say something, ask if she needed help, but he let the silence linger. Without a word he turned around and hugged her back in turn. Ruby showed no surprise at the gesture and snuggled deeper into his chest.
It wasn't the first time Ruby had slept with Jaune and it wouldn't be the last. It still surprised her even now how quickly they'd fallen into this kind of rythm. When she first came to Beacon she'd set herself up to only having Yang as her friend. After all, who'd wanna hang out with the girl who came in two years early and knew more about firearms than interpersonal relationships?
And now here she was with a team as close as family and a guy she couldn't imagine not being like this with. She smiled and hummed against his chest. Jaune was like a big teddy bear. No matter how it came to be, she really wanted to thank Headmaster Ozpin for making sure the five of them were a team.
The sudden knock on the door jolted her out of her really nice sleep. It involved dreams of Jaune hand-feeding her strawberry shortcakes while her team danced in victory over stopping the big bad Salem, "Bwuh?" She raised her head and watched as Weiss, always the polite one, forced herself off of her bed and trudged to the door. Such a noble sacrifice. Maybe she'd rescind the Zwei punishment.
"We know you're in there, baby brother!" An unfamiliar voice called out. Like a switch had been flipped, Jaune's eyes burst open and she had to hold on tighter to stop him from falling off the bed.
"Wait, Weiss, don't-"
Her boyfriend's warning was cut off when Weiss opened the door and a sea of blondes poured into their dormroom. Blake and Yang blearily woke up to the sight of Jaune's seven sisters coming in. Ruby recognized most of them, though three were unknown. She guessed that the unknowns were Saprhon, Tulip and Pearl, the only sisters that weren't in Domremy when they visited.
Jaune's face fell and he sat up in all his bunny onesie glory, "Wh-What are you all doing here? I thought-"
"Mom and dad are coming in soon, but we figured we could visit sooner," Rebecca said, "I mean we just had to after you told mom all about how you and Ruby are going out now."
Jaune groaned and put his face in his hands, "Please don't do this."
"What's going on?" Blake whispered.
Yang looked at the sea of fellow blondes, "My older sister senses are tingling. I think they're-"
"We're just here to talk to her, baby brother." One of the unknown sisters said.
"I know what you're here for." Jaune groaned again, "Guys, please, I actually really like this relationship, so could you please not ruin it?"
"I take offense to that, Jaune," Rebecca said, pushing up her glasses with one finger. Did she have those before? "We're just here to do what any good siblings would. April, May, keep him busy!"
"Roger, roger!" Both twins saluted and, before he could even say anything, they forced him to change then dragged him out of the room. Ruby could only watch as the pair practically manhandled their far bigger sibling. As a little sister herself, she knew all the tips and tricks on getting your big sister to play along. In her case she used the dreaded puppy dog pout, but sometimes just being really insistent worked wonders.
"Excuse me, what exactly is happening here?"
"Don't you see it, Weiss cream?" Yang asked, "They're gonna do the same thing dad should've done when he met up with Jaune yesterday." Wait, what? "I would've done it myself, but Rubes here was always kind of a weirdo who didn't know when people were asking her out."
"Hey!" Ruby protested.
"What? It's true! I mean I'm not really complaining since I didn't wanna play good cop. You know dad and Uncle Qrow would've put anyone through the grinder." Yang scoffed.
"B-But me and Jaune are super happy! There's no need for this!" Ruby said.
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. The name's Saphron, by the way. You already met everyone except Tulip and Pearl." Saphron pointed them out. Her tone was light and the easy smile on her face calmed Ruby down. Okay, cool, so this was just one of those 'things' older siblings did for their younger ones. She was just gonna ignore the glaring ten year old. From what Jaune told him, Lily was the clingiest of his sisters.
"I'd rather not be here for this." Weiss shook her head, "Blake, Yang, do you want to give them some alone time?"
"Sure."
"Sounds good."
"Y-You're just gonna leave me?" She looked at her three teammates in a panic. Blake looked apathetic while Weiss gave her a razor thin smile and mouthed 'Zwei' back at her. Ugh, traitor! She turned to Yang, her last hope, and found her expression torn, "Yang...?"
"On one hand I kinda wanna stay, but on the other I know that this is a sacred rite for all older siblings." Said siblings all nodded respectfully at her. Again, except for Lily who continued to glare, "Sorry, Rubes, but as a self-respecting big sis I gotta let em have this. I mean if I didn't trust Jaune I would've totally done the exact same thing to him. It's only proper."
"And we would've let you." Rebecca smiled.
"You heard her. This is something you gotta face alone."
Her three teammates ignored her sputtering arguments and left her alone. Ruby gulped and turned to the five blondes. Oh Gods, her social anxiety was acting up again. No, no, don't think like that. Like Saprhon said, this was nothing serious. She'd already met most of them back in Domremy, and even with the twins gone she was sure she made a good enough impression that Tulip, Pearl, and Saphron would have a better opinion of her.
It was only when the door clicked shut the mood in the room changed. Gone were the warm smiles and easy laughs, replaced instead by five stern expressions that made her feel smaller than she already was, "Uh..."
"Ms. Rose, I believe we need to talk," Rebecca said, her voice clipped.
"Uh...you can call me Ruby-"
"Ms. Rose, what are your intentions with our brother?" Rebecca cut her off. Ruby suddenly wished she wasn't in her pajamas and had Crescent Rose on hand. Not cause she'd use it - and with her Maiden powers she wouldn't even need to - but she always felt more confident with her baby by her side.
"Uh...to date him?"
"Do you think this a laughing matter? Is that what you think this relationship is: a joke?"
"What?" Ruby squawked and sat up straighter, "I-I'm not treating it like a joke! Jaune's my first boyfriend and I am extremely serious about him!" On the bright side, the anger from the accusation made her feel less nervous.
"Hmm, we're not so sure about that." Saprhon hummed.
"It's the truth!"
"Very well. We present to you Exhibit A," Tulip said. She stepped forward and presented her scroll. On it was an article: Ruby Rose the Relationship Reaper. And below that were multiple pages of people stupidly blaming her for things like their boyfriends breaking up with them or something else supremely dumb.
"WHAT?!" Ruby screamed, even more offended than before. None of Jaune's sister were even remotely surprised at her shout.
"We've heard quite a bit about you, Ms. Relationship Reaper." Pearl crossed her arms, expression stern, "Normally I wouldn't place much stock in rumors, but there's no smoke without fire. When I asked around I heard quite a tale about how Jaune was dating this girl called Penny when you 'swooped in'. We've even heard tell that you forced the girl to say she had no grudge with a smile on her face.
"B-But-"
"Not to mention the rumors about the things you make Jaune do. As an aspiring doctor, I worry for his health if even a quarter of the rumors are true." None of them were true, she wanted to say, but again she was cut off, "I understand that your age comes with a degree of sexual curiosity, but please control yourself. Aura can't heal everything, especially the internal damage."
"That's not-"
"We just wanna make sure that you're not trying to use Jaune," Saphron said, "Like maybe you were only interested in him because he was dating someone else? We'd rather not get a phone call a couple of weeks later about how he got dumped cause you got bored."
"I-"
"Guilty, she's guilty!" Lily shouted with the fury of a thousand suns, "She and Jaune should break up!"
Ruby shrunk back and looked at the five stern-faced blondes. She'd faced Grimm, criminals, and an angry Winter Schnee, and yet she never felt more afraid than she did now. And just like any scared teenager with an older sibling, she did the first thing that came to mind.
"YAAANNNNGGGG!"
The shout was barely over before the best big sis in the world charged in and stepped in between her and the five blondes, "Alright, talk over! When the younger sibling calls out, I'm sworn to defend!" Yang shouted. The five stepped back, though they all held a begrudging respect to such a protective older sibling. They would've done the same in her place.
"We're just trying to ensure her intentions. We don't want Jaune to just be another notch in the Relationship Reaper's belt," Rebecca said.
"I'm not-"
"It doesn't matter, she called and I'm here." Yang crossed her arms, "Even if Ruby's the worst NTR Queen on Remnant, I'm not budging. Don't worry, Ruby! Even if all of Remnant turns against you, I never will!"
"Darn it, Yang!" Ruby shouted, "I'm not some stupid Relationship Reaper! I like Jaune and only Jaune!" She stood up and panted, feeling like she'd just ran a marathon without her Semblance or Aura. She wanted to hit something. Why couldn't the Grimm invade campus right now? She was fired up and ready to go.
...
"So you say." Tulip crossed her arms in turn.
"UGGHHHHH!"
Jaune sighed as the twins led him around campus. They hadn't been to Beacon before today, but that hardly mattered when every corner led to a new stall, show or event. Right now the two were debating on whether to watch a fight in the arena or get some food. This was new for them. Back in Domremy the most exciting thing was the yearly festival, and that paled in comparison to the Vytal.
He was worried about Ruby, though not for the obvious reasons. This was actually the first time his sisters had done something like this, so it was probably gonna be more embarassing for him than for her. Sapphire wasn't serious enough to get a talk and both Rebecca and Lily loved Ruby when she came to visit...well, Rebecca did, but he was sure Lily wouldn't do anything. She always so shy and quiet.
Oh well, maybe he should just have some fun. It'd been a while since he actually got to spend some alone time with his family.
The next couple of hours was spent just doing what the twins wanted. He had to admit, it was a nice change of pace from having to worry about terrorists, bandits, and politicians. He'd kept so many things hidden from his family ever since he got here. They didn't know he forged his transcripts, didn't know his teammates were strong enough to destroy kingdoms, didn't know how many times he'd risked his life.
And he was going to keep it that way.
He wondered about doubling back to check on Ruby when a familiar voice greeted them, "Hello, Jaune." Pyrrha's said, voice soft and lyrical. At her side was Mercury, who had the same 'I'm bored and I'm just being dragged along' look as always. Contrary to her usual appearance, Pyrrha instead went for a cream colored sweater and a forest green skirt that fell to the ankles of her brown boots. Even her hair was set down instead of being in its usual ponytail.
"Hey, Pyrrha," he greeted with a smile.
"It's nice to see yo- oh, who are these two?" She smiled down at the twins, who were gaping up at the much taller woman.
"Y-You're Pyrrha Nikos!" April practically shouted.
Pyrrha's smile twitched for just a moment, so quick that he almost didn't notice, "Yes, and you two are?"
"This is April and that's May, they're two of my little sisters." She mussed up April's hair, "Don't be rude, April. No shouting out people's names."
"But-"
"It's quite alright, Jaune, but please, I am trying to keep a bit of a low profile." Pyrrha put a hand to her lips and winked.
"Think the ship's sailed on that one, partner." Mercury rolled his eyes, "By the way, Jaune, the old man said he wanted to meet us. Something personal." Which meant something about Salem or the Maidens. Great, "He said we can go at any time today, but we should get it over with."
"Kinda busy here, Merc."
"Oh, I can watch over them," Pyrrha offered immediately. Jaune wanted to refuse, but of course April and May were all too eager to ditch him for the four time Mistral Regional Champion. Family, huh? "Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't get into trouble."
"...Fine." Jaune (reluctantly) followed Mercury to Ozpin's office. He didn't hate Ozpin or anything, but he still didn't trust the guy even after all this time. He would've wanted to forget about the secret society business for at least one more day, "He tell you what it's about?"
"Old man's on a need to know basis with everyone. What do you think?"
"You must be bummed getting your date cut off."
"Not dating, no matter how much you think it's 'meant to be'." Mercury rolled his eyes.
"You know denial's not a good look, my brother from another mother."
"Again, if you knew my mom you wouldn't say shit like that."
The back and forth banter continued till they finally arrived at Ozpin's office. As always the man sat alone behind his big desk. He wondered what it was even for. Did you really need that much space for paperwork?
"Good, you two both made it." Ozpin steepled his hands together and smiled. Did he not realize how sinsiter it made him look? "I'll get down to brass tacks. Mr. Black, what would you say if I told you I might be able to return your Semblance to you?"
For the first time since he'd known him, Mercury actually looked speechless. Then he looked angry, "Fuck. You." The barely repressed fury in the two words sent a shiver down his spine, "If this is a joke it's not fucking funny."
"No joke, Mr. Black."
"Yeah, right." Mercury laughed, soft and bitter, then turned towards Jaune? "You know how I lost my Semblance?" Jaune reluctantly shook his head. It was a topic too personal to ever ask about, "Well, when my dad found out I got it, he took it away from me. He always said it was because it was a crutch, but I always figured he was scared I'd use it to cut his throat. Didn't stop me from doing it the old fashioned way."
"...What was your Semblance?"
"I was an Aura deadzone. Come within five feet of me and there's no Aura around. Not for them, and not for me. The opposite of what you have." He sneered, "Perfect for an assassin, right? One hit to kill them, one to kill me. After dad took it, he always said he'd give it back to me after I 'proved I didn't need it'. Bullshit. He was never gonna give it back. After he was lying on the dirt I thought I'd get it back. I didn't."
It took everything Jaune had not to say he was sorry. That would've just made him angrier.
"And now you're telling me you can give it back just like that? Gimme a break."
"I didn't say I could give it back 'just like that'," Ozpin said, calm as always, "I said I might be able to do so. There are no guarantees in life." His smile turned a tad more bitter, "But isn't a slight chance even better than none."
Mercury laughed, "Alright, I'll bite, how are you gonna give it back?"
"That's what Jaune is here for." Ozpin turned his gaze to him, "From what you told me of your father, he takes Semblances away. I have my doubts on this." He held up a hand, "Let me finish, Mr. Black. Rather than taking your Semblance away, I believe he sealed it. You cannot remove someone's Semblance any more than you can permanently take their Aura. You can sap it, certainly, but Aura is part of your soul, as is your Semblance. To take it away would be to rip your soul asunder, which not even magic is capable of."
"So what are you saying?" Jaune asked.
"I believe Mercury's Semblance has been sealed deep inside; so deep that even he can no longer access it. However, I believe I might know of a method to 'overflow' his Aura using one of Pietro Polendina's creations. It's the same way he was able to ensure Penny had a soul of her own despite her origins." Mercury looked confused at that, though he didn't ask any questions, "By 'overflowing' his Aura, I believe we can cause the seal - the metaphorical dam - burst and allow him to regiain his Semblance."
"And...you need me?"
"Transferring Aura comes with inherent risks for both parties, but with your Semblance you can amplify Mr. Black's Aura with minimal cost to yourself." He leaned back on his chair, "But the choice ultimately comes to you both. I'm merely offering the idea."
"This is-"
"We'll do it," Jaune said, cutting Mercury off. The assassin's eyes widened at the quick answer, "If there's even a small chance that Mercury can get his Semblance back, then the answer's obvious."
"Hm. Do you agree?" Ozpin looked to Mercury."
"...Sure."
"Then I will call Pietro and inform you when the preparations have been completed."
The two of them left Ozpin's office and headed back down. Jaune's focus was solely on Mercury. Contrary to what he expected, he didn't look excited or put on a front of disinterest. Instead he looked dazed, like he couldn't believe the last few minutes had really happened. The two of them walked in silence and it was only when they got back to the halls that Mercury finally spoke up.
"...You didn't have to agree."
"What?"
"The old man never plays it straight. There's probably more risk in this than what he's telling us. You shouldn't have agreed."
"It doesn't matter." Jaune shook his head, "Like I told Ozpin, if there's even a chance this'll work then I'm all-in. You were there with team RWBY when I got caught, this is the least I can do to pay you back."
"I was just there for the ice cream midget." Mercury's smile was brittle.
"Sure, sure." Jaune scoffed, "Now come on, let's get you back to Pyrrha before-"
"Jaune!" The screaming voice of his mother made him jump in the air. He turned to the source and flinched when he saw both his mom and dad stomping towards him with murder in their eyes. Oh no, did something happen? Please Gods don't tell him Ruby got into a fight with his sisters or Pyrrha didn't get in trouble with the twins. He was only gone for a couple of hours!
The next words out of his dad's mouth made him wish it was that simple.
"Jaune, were you taken by the White Fang." Jaune's eyes widened and whatever excuse he had died in his throat. Seeing his hesitation, his dad cursed and looked like he was barely keeping himself from punching the wall in anger, "Gods damn it..."
"W-Wait, that didn't happen!" Jaune defended far too late.
"Don't lie to me, young man! I know when you do!" His mom said, not a hint of her warm cheer present. The last time he'd seen her so mad was when Pearl and Tulip had snuck out past the town wall without an escort, "Did or did you not get taken by one of those...those terrorists!"
"I..."
"Back off." Mercury put an arm out in front of him, ignoring the glare both his parents gave, "Give him some space, would you?"
"My son was kidnapped by terorrists! I won't be made to 'back off' by some teenager, Huntsman or no!" His dad growled.
"H-How did you even know?" Jaune asked. He couldn't lie, not anymore. They came here sure it was the truth and his hesitation only made it worse. Any other refusal or excuse wouldn't work anymore.
"One of your schoolmates told us, said he was worried for your sake. We saw the police report and the pictures..." Mom shook her head, barely holding back tears, "And to think we'd find out this way too."
A schoolmate? And a guy on top? The only person who knew for sure what happened was Mercury, and there was no way he'd tell them; he didn't know who his mom and dad were. The only other person was possibly Ren if Mercury didn't keep it secret from his team, but he had even less reasons and means to tell them about it.
Wait, there was one other person who knew.
"Cardin..." Jaune's hands balled into shaky fists and he almost growled out the name. He was the only other person who knew, but why do this? Just cause he basically told his dad to fuck off and Mercury threatened him back? Was he that petty? Or was it-
His musings were cut off when his mom tugged on his arm dragged him back in the direction of Ozpin's office.
"H-Hey, where are we going?" He asked in a panic.
"We're going to the headmaster," dad said, "We already had our doubts about you attending, but this? This is too much. You're going back home, Jaune."
Omake: The Actual Worst Timeline
Jaune Arc hated his life.
Some might call it karmic, being blackmailed to attend Beacon after his fake transcripts had been found out. He was ready to be expelled, maybe even take some jail time for fraud, though he would've begged for mercy from the headmaster.
Now he would've begged to just be taken to jail.
The reasons - four of them - were right in front of him. The headmaster told him about Maidens or Magical Girls or whatever and that he needed someone to keep an eye on them. That was risky enough on its own, but it was only when he found out who he was supposed to keep from killing each other that he almost jumped out of Beacon entirely. It was only the old bastard's comments about how his family would be shamed if their only son was publicly outed as a fraud that made him stay.
The first one was Yang Branwen, daughter of the infamous Branwen bandit tribe and one of their most brutal members. He'd heard stories of her raiding villages all by herself and she was used as a boogeyman around Mistralian campfires. She was actually the head of the tribe now that Raven Branwen was dead and she was more than living up to the example her mother set.
Then there was Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC and apple to her father's eye. From what he heard she was just as ruthless, if not even moreso, than her dad. Any protests or attempts at rebellion were put down hard and she'd personally done the deed herself despite her young age. There were even rumors that Jacques actually feared her, afraid of the day she realized that she didn't need him to run things.
That would've been bad enough if not for the person sitting across from her. Blake Belladonna, one of the most infamous members of the White Fang and Wanted across all the Kingdoms for numerous incidents of terrorist, murder, arson, and stealing Atlas' entire supply of fish. Yes, all of them. It would've been funny if he didn't know for a fact that she blew up an orphanage just last week.
Last was Ruby Rose, Vale's own 'superhero'. That didn't sound so bad, one would think. Sure, if she wasn't absolutely delusional with a penchant for collateral and property damage. She got Ozpin's attention when she stopped Roman Torchwick...and blew up the shop he was robbing...and the entire street. Any attempts to stop her had failed since, in her mind, anyone stopping her was obviously a bad guy. She'd hospitalized half of Vale's police force the last time they tried.
And he was supposed to make them all get along.
"So...how about we-"
That was as far as he got before everything in a five mile radius exploded.
Guess it's Jaune's turn to have some family drama. That's what happens when you hide your shenanigans from a family and they think you're 'just' fighting the creatures of darkness and hate.
But man, Cardin's probably gonna regret doing that now that he has all of team RWBY and Mercury out for his blood. They'll probably ask him his reasons first before ejecting him from Beacon, though.
And no, I have no plans to expand on the mini omake since it basically just ends with the entire team immediately trying to murder each other since they're all different flavors of awful. Even team GRIMM would probably be less insane than these four.
Questions:
1. Do you guys think Jaune's parents are right to immediately try to pull him out? It sounds unreasonable, especially since he's training to be a Huntsman, but they did just find out their son was hiding the fact that he got kidnapped and tortured from them.
2. Consequently, was Jaune right in not even trying to tell his parents anything about what he's been doing? He actively hid that he participated in the Breach and made it clear in this chapter that he had no plans to tell them anything until he was forced to att he end. They also have no idea he's actively helping his teammates fight said terrorists alongside bandits and Salem.
3. Do you guys mind that Jaune doesn't seem to care too much about killing people? It was self-defense against the White Fang, but he never seems to dwell on it at all compared to the rest of team RWBY sans Blake being uncomfortable with taking lives. Mercury will even comment on it in a future chapter.
Review Answers:
RightHandOfPalpatine - There's gonna be a sequel, at least.
Chuck B. Winanaki - She's not Qrow's, but everyone kinda assumes it anyway. As for correspondence with Winter...I'll leave that up to your imagination.
Tohu - The original plan was to make it a Jaune x Summer pairing than Jaune x Cinder. I changed the pairing but didn't really change Tai being dead. It happens.